F1 News

Costa: Mercedes W05 is 'on par' with Red Bull RB10

Mercedes insists its 2014 car is "on par" with the chassis being fielded by reigning world champions Red Bull this season.

The more common perception in the F1 paddock so far this year is that while the silver W05 is a tidy single seater, its clear dominance is being fuelled mainly by its vastly superior turbo V6 'power unit'.

Red Bull, meanwhile, is apparently only managing to stay relatively competitive amid engine supplier Renault's problems due to the once again field-leading car design efforts of Adrian Newey.

But Aldo Costa, the Mercedes car designer, insisted to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that his W05 is "about on par with Red Bull".

"There are certain corners, especially the fast ones, where Red Bull is better than us," he acknowledged, "but in other places it is us with the edge.